Service provider user accounts

ABSTRACT

Examples described herein involve switching between two user accounts of a streaming media service. In an example implementation, a playback device stores data representing credentials for multiple user accounts including a first user account of a first streaming audio service and a second user account of the first streaming audio service. The playback device receives instructions to play first audio content from the first streaming audio service and plays back the first audio content by streaming data representing the first audio content from one or more servers of the first streaming audio service using credentials of the first user account. The playback device detects a trigger associated with the first user account of the first streaming audio service and switches from streaming data representing the first audio content using credentials of the first user account to streaming data representing the first audio content using credentials of the second user account.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. § 120 to, and is acontinuation of, U.S. non provisional patent application Ser. No.17/515,650, filed on Nov. 1, 2021, entitled “Service Provider UserAccounts,” which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

U.S. non provisional patent application Ser. No. 17/515,650 claimspriority under 35 U.S.C. § 120 to, and is a continuation of, U.S.non-provisional patent application Ser. No. 16/713,791, filed on Dec.13, 2019, entitled “Service Provider User Accounts,” and issued as U.S.Pat. No. 11,165,882 on Nov. 2, 2021, which is incorporated herein byreference in its entirety.

U.S. non-provisional patent application Ser. No. 16/713,791 claimspriority under 35 U.S.C. § 120 to, and is a continuation of, U.S.non-provisional patent application Ser. No. 15/341,546, filed on Nov. 2,2016, entitled “Service Provider User Accounts,” and issued as U.S. Pat.No. 10,511,685 on Dec. 17, 2019, which is incorporated herein byreference in its entirety.

U.S. non-provisional patent application Ser. No. 15/341,546 claimspriority under 35 U.S.C. § 120 to, and is a continuation of, U.S.non-provisional patent application Ser. No. 14/501,947, filed on Sep.30, 2014, entitled “Service Provider User Accounts,” and issued as U.S.Pat. No. 9,521,212 on Dec. 13, 2016, which is incorporated herein byreference in its entirety.

FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE

The disclosure is related to consumer goods and, more particularly, tomethods, systems, products, features, services, and other elementsdirected to media playback or some aspect thereof.

BACKGROUND

Options for accessing and listening to digital audio in an out-loudsetting were limited until in 2003, when SONOS, Inc. filed for one ofits first patent applications, entitled “Method for Synchronizing AudioPlayback between Multiple Networked Devices,” and began offering a mediaplayback system for sale in 2005. The Sonos Wireless HiFi System enablespeople to experience music from a plethora of sources via one or morenetworked playback devices. Through a software control applicationinstalled on a smartphone, tablet, or computer, one can play what he orshe wants in any room that has a networked playback device.Additionally, using the controller, for example, different songs can bestreamed to each room with a playback device, rooms can be groupedtogether for synchronous playback, or the same song can be heard in allrooms synchronously.

Given the ever growing interest in digital media, there continues to bea need to develop consumer-accessible technologies to further enhancethe listening experience.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Features, aspects, and advantages of the presently disclosed technologymay be better understood with regard to the following description,appended claims, and accompanying drawings where:

FIG. 1 shows an example media playback system configuration in whichcertain embodiments may be practiced;

FIG. 2 shows a functional block diagram of an example playback device;

FIG. 3 shows a functional block diagram of an example control device;

FIG. 4 shows an example controller interface;

FIG. 5 shows an example media playback system environment;

FIG. 6 shows an example flow diagram of a method for managing two ormore user accounts via which a media playback system can access aservice provider;

FIG. 7 shows an example flow diagram of a method for displayinggraphical representations indicating at least one of two or more useraccounts via which a media playback system can access a serviceprovider;

FIG. 8 shows an example graphical interface displaying user accounts viawhich a media playback system can access a service provider; and

FIGS. 9A, 9B, and 9C shows a series of example graphical interfacesillustrating switching from a first user account via which a mediaplayback system can access a service provider to a second user accountvia which the media playback system can access the service provider.

The drawings are for the purpose of illustrating example embodiments,but it is understood that the inventions are not limited to thearrangements and instrumentality shown in the drawings.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION I. Overview

A media playback system may access media content available from aservice provider using a user account for the service provider. Theservice provider may accordingly provide to the media playback system,media content based on access credentials of the user account. The mediacontent may include media items identified based on media preferences,curated playlists, and/or custom playlists associated with the useraccount, among other examples.

In one case, the media playback system may be used by a plurality ofusers (i.e. roommates or members of a family). However, the user accountvia which the media playback system accesses the service provider may bea user account for a particular user of the plurality of users. In otherwords, the service provider may provide media content to the mediaplayback system based on the user account of the particular user, evenwhen another user of the plurality of users is using the media playbacksystem.

Some examples described herein involve managing two or more useraccounts via which a media playback system can access a serviceprovider. Some examples also involve displaying on a graphical display,graphical representations of at least one of the two or more useraccounts via which a media playback system can access a serviceprovider.

In one example, data indicating one or more user accounts for one ormore service providers may be stored and maintained on at least onedevice associated with the media playback system. The at least onedevice may include one or more playback devices in the media playbacksystem, and/or one or more servers in communication with the mediaplayback system.

The at least one device may maintain data indicating (i) a first useraccount for a service provider and (ii) a first priority indicatorcorresponding to the first user account. In one example, the firstpriority indicator may be a time stamp indicating when the first useraccount for the service provider was registered with the media playbacksystem. In another example, the first priority indicator may be anincremental numeric value based on a number of user accounts previouslyregistered with a media playback system.

The at least one device may subsequently receive data indicating asecond user account for the same service provider. In one example, thedata may be received in response to the second user account for theservice provider being registered with the media playback system. Basedon the received data, the at least one device may then determine asecond priority indicator corresponding to the second user account. Inone instance, the at least one device may determine the second priorityindicator based on a time when the second user account was registeredwith the media playback system. In another instance, the at least onedevice may determine the second priority indicator based on the numberof previously registered user accounts.

The at least one device may then cause to be stored, data indicating (i)the second user account for the service provider and (ii) the secondpriority indicator corresponding to the second user account. In oneexample, the at least one device may further transmit the data to bestored to one or more other devices associated with the media playbacksystem. In one case, the at least one device may transmit the dataresponsive to receiving the data indicating the second user account forthe service provider and determining the second priority indicator. Inanother case, the at least one device may transmit the data in responseto a request for the data.

For instance, a network device, such as a controller device incommunication with the media playback system, may request from the atleast one playback device, data indicating one or more user accountsregistered with the media playback system that the media playback systemis configured to use when accessing media content from one or moreservice providers. In one example, a user may be using the networkdevice to control the media playback system and may wish to cause themedia playback system to play media content from one or more serviceproviders, including the service provider mentioned above. Uponlaunching a software application that provides a controller interfacefor controlling the media playback system, the network device maytransmit to the at least one device, a request for the data indicatingone or more user accounts for one or more service providers.

Continuing with the example above, the data received by the networkdevice from the at least one device may indicate at least (i) theservice provider mentioned previously, (ii) the first user account forthe service provider, and (iii) the second user account for the serviceprovider, among other information relating to user accounts and serviceproviders associated with the media playback system.

Based on the received data, the network device may identify, for eachservice provider, a default user account corresponding to the networkdevice. For instance, the network device may identify the first useraccount as a default user account corresponding to the network device.In one example, the network device may identify the first user accountas the default user account for the service provider based on the firstpriority indicator indicating a time stamp earlier than a time stampindicated by the second priority indicator. In another example, thenetwork device may identify the first user account as the default useraccount for the service provider based on the first priority indicatorindicating a numeric value smaller than a numeric value indicated by thesecond priority indicator. In other words, in these examples, anearliest registered user account for the service provider may beidentified as the default user account.

In some cases, the data received from the at least one device mayfurther indicate additional information. For instance, the data mayfurther indicate a respective device via which each user account wasregistered with the media playback system. In one example, if the dataindicates that the network device is the device via which the first useraccount was registered with the media playback system, then the networkdevice may accordingly determine that the first user account is thedefault user account.

Based on the determination that the first user account is the defaultuser account corresponding to the network device, the first user accountmay then be configured to be an active user account of the serviceprovider when the network device is used to access the media playbacksystem. As the active user account, the first user account may be usedby the media playback system to access the service provider if and whenthe media playback system accesses the service provider. Other examplesare also possible.

The network device may then cause to be displayed on a graphicaldisplay, a graphical representation that indicates the first useraccount is the active user account. The graphical representation may bea part of the controller interface for controlling the media playbacksystem. In one example, the graphical representation may be selectableto further browse and select media content from the service providerthat is available via the first user account. In another example, thegraphical representation that indicates the first user account is theactive user account may also be selectable to change the active useraccount. Other examples are also possible.

As indicated above, the present discussions involve managing two or moreuser accounts via which a media playback system can access a serviceprovider, and displaying on a graphical display, graphicalrepresentations of at least one of the two or more user accounts viawhich a media playback system can access a service provider. In oneaspect, a device is provided. The device includes a processor and memoryhaving stored thereon instructions executable by the processor to causethe device to perform functions. The functions include maintaining dataindicating (i) a first user account for a service provider and (ii) afirst priority indicator corresponding to the first user account,receiving data indicating a second user account for the serviceprovider, based on the received data indicating the second user accountfor the service provider, determining a second priority indicatorcorresponding to the second user account, and causing to be stored, dataindicating (i) the second user account for the service provider and (ii)the second priority indicator corresponding to the second user account.

In another aspect, a network device is provided. The network deviceincludes a processor and memory having stored thereon instructionsexecutable by the processor to cause the network device to performfunctions. The functions include receiving from a playback device, dataindicating (i) a service provider, (ii) a first user account for theservice provider, and (iii) a second user account for the serviceprovider, based on the received data, identifying the first user accountas a default user account corresponding to the network device, andcausing a graphical display to display a graphical representation thatindicates the first user account is an active user account.

In a further aspect, a non-transitory computer readable medium isprovided. The non-transitory computer readable medium has stored thereoninstructions executable by a computing device to cause the computingdevice to perform functions. The functions include maintaining dataindicating (i) a first user account for a service provider and (ii) afirst priority indicator corresponding to the first user account,receiving data indicating a second user account for the serviceprovider, based on the received data indicating the second user accountfor the service provider, determining a second priority indicatorcorresponding to the second user account, and causing to be stored, dataindicating (i) the second user account for the service provider and (ii)the second priority indicator corresponding to the second user account.

While some examples described herein may refer to functions performed bygiven actors such as “users” and/or other entities, it should beunderstood that this is for purposes of explanation only. The claimsshould not be interpreted to require action by any such example actorunless explicitly required by the language of the claims themselves. Itwill be understood by one of ordinary skill in the art that thisdisclosure includes numerous other embodiments.

II. Example Operating Environment

FIG. 1 shows an example configuration of a media playback system 100 inwhich one or more embodiments disclosed herein may be practiced orimplemented. The media playback system 100 as shown is associated withan example home environment having several rooms and spaces, such as forexample, a master bedroom, an office, a dining room, and a living room.As shown in the example of FIG. 1 , the media playback system 100includes playback devices 102-124, control devices 126 and 128, and awired or wireless network router 130.

Further discussions relating to the different components of the examplemedia playback system 100 and how the different components may interactto provide a user with a media experience may be found in the followingsections. While discussions herein may generally refer to the examplemedia playback system 100, technologies described herein are not limitedto applications within, among other things, the home environment asshown in FIG. 1 . For instance, the technologies described herein may beuseful in environments where multi-zone audio may be desired, such as,for example, a commercial setting like a restaurant, mall or airport, avehicle like a sports utility vehicle (SUV), bus or car, a ship or boat,an airplane, and so on.

a. Example Playback Devices

FIG. 2 shows a functional block diagram of an example playback device200 that may be configured to be one or more of the playback devices102-124 of the media playback system 100 of FIG. 1 . The playback device200 may include a processor 202, software components 204, memory 206,audio processing components 208, audio amplifier(s) 210, speaker(s) 212,microphone(s) 220, and a network interface 214 including wirelessinterface(s) 216 and wired interface(s) 218. In one case, the playbackdevice 200 may not include the speaker(s) 212, but rather a speakerinterface for connecting the playback device 200 to external speakers.In another case, the playback device 200 may include neither thespeaker(s) 212 nor the audio amplifier(s) 210, but rather an audiointerface for connecting the playback device 200 to an external audioamplifier or audio-visual receiver.

In one example, the processor 202 may be a clock-driven computingcomponent configured to process input data according to instructionsstored in the memory 206. The memory 206 may be a tangiblecomputer-readable medium configured to store instructions executable bythe processor 202. For instance, the memory 206 may be data storage thatcan be loaded with one or more of the software components 204 executableby the processor 202 to achieve certain functions. In one example, thefunctions may involve the playback device 200 retrieving audio data froman audio source or another playback device. In another example, thefunctions may involve the playback device 200 sending audio data toanother device or playback device on a network. In yet another example,the functions may involve pairing of the playback device 200 with one ormore playback devices to create a multi-channel audio environment.

Certain functions may involve the playback device 200 synchronizingplayback of audio content with one or more other playback devices.During synchronous playback, a listener will preferably not be able toperceive time-delay differences between playback of the audio content bythe playback device 200 and the one or more other playback devices. U.S.Pat. No. 8,234,395 entitled, “System and method for synchronizingoperations among a plurality of independently clocked digital dataprocessing devices,” which is hereby incorporated by reference, providesin more detail some examples for audio playback synchronization amongplayback devices.

The memory 206 may further be configured to store data associated withthe playback device 200, such as one or more zones and/or zone groupsthe playback device 200 is a part of, audio sources accessible by theplayback device 200, or a playback queue that the playback device 200(or some other playback device) may be associated with. The data may bestored as one or more state variables that are periodically updated andused to describe the state of the playback device 200. The memory 206may also include the data associated with the state of the other devicesof the media system, and shared from time to time among the devices sothat one or more of the devices have the most recent data associatedwith the system. Other embodiments are also possible.

The audio processing components 208 may include one or more ofdigital-to-analog converters (DAC), analog-to-digital converters (ADC),audio preprocessing components, audio enhancement components, and adigital signal processor (DSP), among others. In one embodiment, one ormore of the audio processing components 208 may be a subcomponent of theprocessor 202. In one example, audio content may be processed and/orintentionally altered by the audio processing components 208 to produceaudio signals. The produced audio signals may then be provided to theaudio amplifier(s) 210 for amplification and playback through speaker(s)212. Particularly, the audio amplifier(s) 210 may include devicesconfigured to amplify audio signals to a level for driving one or moreof the speakers 212. The speaker(s) 212 may include an individualtransducer (e.g., a “driver”) or a complete speaker system involving anenclosure with one or more drivers. A particular driver of thespeaker(s) 212 may include, for example, a subwoofer (e.g., for lowfrequencies), a mid-range driver (e.g., for middle frequencies), and/ora tweeter (e.g., for high frequencies). In some cases, each transducerin the one or more speakers 212 may be driven by an individualcorresponding audio amplifier of the audio amplifier(s) 210. In additionto producing analog signals for playback by the playback device 200, theaudio processing components 208 may be configured to process audiocontent to be sent to one or more other playback devices for playback.

Audio content to be processed and/or played back by the playback device200 may be received from an external source, such as via an audioline-in input connection (e.g., an auto-detecting 3.5 mm audio line-inconnection) or the network interface 214.

The microphone(s) 220 may include an audio sensor configured to convertdetected sounds into electrical signals. The electrical signal may beprocessed by the audio processing components 208 and/or the processor202. The microphone(s) 220 may be positioned in one or more orientationsat one or more locations on the playback device 200. The microphone(s)220 may be configured to detect sound within one or more frequencyranges. In one case, one or more of the microphone(s) 220 may beconfigured to detect sound within a frequency range of audio that theplayback device 200 is capable or rendering. In another case, one ormore of the microphone(s) 220 may be configured to detect sound within afrequency range audible to humans. Other examples are also possible.

The network interface 214 may be configured to facilitate a data flowbetween the playback device 200 and one or more other devices on a datanetwork. As such, the playback device 200 may be configured to receiveaudio content over the data network from one or more other playbackdevices in communication with the playback device 200, network deviceswithin a local area network, or audio content sources over a wide areanetwork such as the Internet. In one example, the audio content andother signals transmitted and received by the playback device 200 may betransmitted in the form of digital packet data containing an InternetProtocol (IP)-based source address and IP-based destination addresses.In such a case, the network interface 214 may be configured to parse thedigital packet data such that the data destined for the playback device200 is properly received and processed by the playback device 200.

As shown, the network interface 214 may include wireless interface(s)216 and wired interface(s) 218. The wireless interface(s) 216 mayprovide network interface functions for the playback device 200 towirelessly communicate with other devices (e.g., other playbackdevice(s), speaker(s), receiver(s), network device(s), control device(s)within a data network the playback device 200 is associated with) inaccordance with a communication protocol (e.g., any wireless standardincluding IEEE 802.11a, 802.11b, 802.11g, 802.11n, 802.11ac, 802.15, 4Gmobile communication standard, and so on). The wired interface(s) 218may provide network interface functions for the playback device 200 tocommunicate over a wired connection with other devices in accordancewith a communication protocol (e.g., IEEE 802.3). While the networkinterface 214 shown in FIG. 2 includes both wireless interface(s) 216and wired interface(s) 218, the network interface 214 may in someembodiments include only wireless interface(s) or only wiredinterface(s).

In one example, the playback device 200 and one other playback devicemay be paired to play two separate audio components of audio content.For instance, playback device 200 may be configured to play a leftchannel audio component, while the other playback device may beconfigured to play a right channel audio component, thereby producing orenhancing a stereo effect of the audio content. The paired playbackdevices (also referred to as “bonded playback devices”) may further playaudio content in synchrony with other playback devices.

In another example, the playback device 200 may be sonicallyconsolidated with one or more other playback devices to form a single,consolidated playback device. A consolidated playback device may beconfigured to process and reproduce sound differently than anunconsolidated playback device or playback devices that are paired,because a consolidated playback device may have additional speakerdrivers through which audio content may be rendered. For instance, ifthe playback device 200 is a playback device designed to render lowfrequency range audio content (i.e. a subwoofer), the playback device200 may be consolidated with a playback device designed to render fullfrequency range audio content. In such a case, the full frequency rangeplayback device, when consolidated with the low frequency playbackdevice 200, may be configured to render only the mid and high frequencycomponents of audio content, while the low frequency range playbackdevice 200 renders the low frequency component of the audio content. Theconsolidated playback device may further be paired with a singleplayback device or yet another consolidated playback device.

By way of illustration, SONOS, Inc. presently offers (or has offered)for sale certain playback devices including a “PLAY:1,” “PLAY:3,”“PLAY:5,” “PLAYBAR,” “CONNECT:AMP,” “CONNECT,” and “SUB.” Any otherpast, present, and/or future playback devices may additionally oralternatively be used to implement the playback devices of exampleembodiments disclosed herein. Additionally, it is understood that aplayback device is not limited to the example illustrated in FIG. 2 orto the SONOS product offerings. For example, a playback device mayinclude a wired or wireless headphone. In another example, a playbackdevice may include or interact with a docking station for personalmobile media playback devices. In yet another example, a playback devicemay be integral to another device or component such as a television, alighting fixture, or some other device for indoor or outdoor use.

b. Example Playback Zone Configurations

Referring back to the media playback system 100 of FIG. 1 , theenvironment may have one or more playback zones, each with one or moreplayback devices. The media playback system 100 may be established withone or more playback zones, after which one or more zones may be added,or removed to arrive at the example configuration shown in FIG. 1 . Eachzone may be given a name according to a different room or space such asan office, bathroom, master bedroom, bedroom, kitchen, dining room,living room, and/or balcony. In one case, a single playback zone mayinclude multiple rooms or spaces. In another case, a single room orspace may include multiple playback zones.

As shown in FIG. 1 , the balcony, dining room, kitchen, bathroom,office, and bedroom zones each have one playback device, while theliving room and master bedroom zones each have multiple playbackdevices. In the living room zone, playback devices 104, 106, 108, and110 may be configured to play audio content in synchrony as individualplayback devices, as one or more bonded playback devices, as one or moreconsolidated playback devices, or any combination thereof. Similarly, inthe case of the master bedroom, playback devices 122 and 124 may beconfigured to play audio content in synchrony as individual playbackdevices, as a bonded playback device, or as a consolidated playbackdevice.

In one example, one or more playback zones in the environment of FIG. 1may each be playing different audio content. For instance, the user maybe grilling in the balcony zone and listening to hip hop music beingplayed by the playback device 102 while another user may be preparingfood in the kitchen zone and listening to classical music being playedby the playback device 114. In another example, a playback zone may playthe same audio content in synchrony with another playback zone. Forinstance, the user may be in the office zone where the playback device118 is playing the same rock music that is being playing by playbackdevice 102 in the balcony zone. In such a case, playback devices 102 and118 may be playing the rock music in synchrony such that the user mayseamlessly (or at least substantially seamlessly) enjoy the audiocontent that is being played out-loud while moving between differentplayback zones. Synchronization among playback zones may be achieved ina manner similar to that of synchronization among playback devices, asdescribed in previously referenced U.S. Pat. No. 8,234,395.

As suggested above, the zone configurations of the media playback system100 may be dynamically modified, and in some embodiments, the mediaplayback system 100 supports numerous configurations. For instance, if auser physically moves one or more playback devices to or from a zone,the media playback system 100 may be reconfigured to accommodate thechange(s). For instance, if the user physically moves the playbackdevice 102 from the balcony zone to the office zone, the office zone maynow include both the playback device 118 and the playback device 102.The playback device 102 may be paired or grouped with the office zoneand/or renamed if so desired via a control device such as the controldevices 126 and 128. On the other hand, if the one or more playbackdevices are moved to a particular area in the home environment that isnot already a playback zone, a new playback zone may be created for theparticular area.

Further, different playback zones of the media playback system 100 maybe dynamically combined into zone groups or split up into individualplayback zones. For instance, the dining room zone and the kitchen zone114 may be combined into a zone group for a dinner party such thatplayback devices 112 and 114 may render audio content in synchrony. Onthe other hand, the living room zone may be split into a television zoneincluding playback device 104, and a listening zone including playbackdevices 106, 108, and 110, if the user wishes to listen to music in theliving room space while another user wishes to watch television.

c. Example Control Devices

FIG. 3 shows a functional block diagram of an example control device 300that may be configured to be one or both of the control devices 126 and128 of the media playback system 100. As shown, the control device 300may include a processor 302, memory 304, a network interface 306, a userinterface 308, and microphone(s) 310. In one example, the control device300 may be a dedicated controller for the media playback system 100. Inanother example, the control device 300 may be a network device on whichmedia playback system controller application software may be installed,such as for example, an iPhone™, iPad™ or any other smart phone, tabletor network device (e.g., a networked computer such as a PC or Mac™).

The processor 302 may be configured to perform functions relevant tofacilitating user access, control, and configuration of the mediaplayback system 100. The memory 304 may be configured to storeinstructions executable by the processor 302 to perform those functions.The memory 304 may also be configured to store the media playback systemcontroller application software and other data associated with the mediaplayback system 100 and the user.

The microphone(s) 310 may include an audio sensor configured to convertdetected sounds into electrical signals. The electrical signal may beprocessed by the processor 302. In one case, if the control device 300is a device that may also be used as a means for voice communication orvoice recording, one or more of the microphone(s) 310 may be amicrophone for facilitating those functions. For instance, the one ormore of the microphone(s) 310 may be configured to detect sound within afrequency range that a human is capable of producing and/or a frequencyrange audible to humans. Other examples are also possible.

In one example, the network interface 306 may be based on an industrystandard (e.g., infrared, radio, wired standards including IEEE 802.3,wireless standards including IEEE 802.11a, 802.11b, 802.11g, 802.11n,802.11ac, 802.15, 4G mobile communication standard, and so on). Thenetwork interface 306 may provide a means for the control device 300 tocommunicate with other devices in the media playback system 100. In oneexample, data and information (e.g., such as a state variable) may becommunicated between control device 300 and other devices via thenetwork interface 306. For instance, playback zone and zone groupconfigurations in the media playback system 100 may be received by thecontrol device 300 from a playback device or another network device, ortransmitted by the control device 300 to another playback device ornetwork device via the network interface 306. In some cases, the othernetwork device may be another control device.

Playback device control commands such as volume control and audioplayback control may also be communicated from the control device 300 toa playback device via the network interface 306. As suggested above,changes to configurations of the media playback system 100 may also beperformed by a user using the control device 300. The configurationchanges may include adding/removing one or more playback devices to/froma zone, adding/removing one or more zones to/from a zone group, forminga bonded or consolidated player, separating one or more playback devicesfrom a bonded or consolidated player, among others. Accordingly, thecontrol device 300 may sometimes be referred to as a controller, whetherthe control device 300 is a dedicated controller or a network device onwhich media playback system controller application software isinstalled.

The user interface 308 of the control device 300 may be configured tofacilitate user access and control of the media playback system 100, byproviding a controller interface such as the controller interface 400shown in FIG. 4 . The controller interface 400 includes a playbackcontrol region 410, a playback zone region 420, a playback status region430, a playback queue region 440, and an audio content sources region450. The user interface 400 as shown is just one example of a userinterface that may be provided on a network device such as the controldevice 300 of FIG. 3 (and/or the control devices 126 and 128 of FIG. 1 )and accessed by users to control a media playback system such as themedia playback system 100. Other user interfaces of varying formats,styles, and interactive sequences may alternatively be implemented onone or more network devices to provide comparable control access to amedia playback system.

The playback control region 410 may include selectable (e.g., by way oftouch or by using a cursor) icons to cause playback devices in aselected playback zone or zone group to play or pause, fast forward,rewind, skip to next, skip to previous, enter/exit shuffle mode,enter/exit repeat mode, enter/exit cross fade mode. The playback controlregion 410 may also include selectable icons to modify equalizationsettings, and playback volume, among other possibilities.

The playback zone region 420 may include representations of playbackzones within the media playback system 100. In some embodiments, thegraphical representations of playback zones may be selectable to bringup additional selectable icons to manage or configure the playback zonesin the media playback system, such as a creation of bonded zones,creation of zone groups, separation of zone groups, and renaming of zonegroups, among other possibilities.

For example, as shown, a “group” icon may be provided within each of thegraphical representations of playback zones. The “group” icon providedwithin a graphical representation of a particular zone may be selectableto bring up options to select one or more other zones in the mediaplayback system to be grouped with the particular zone. Once grouped,playback devices in the zones that have been grouped with the particularzone will be configured to play audio content in synchrony with theplayback device(s) in the particular zone. Analogously, a “group” iconmay be provided within a graphical representation of a zone group. Inthis case, the “group” icon may be selectable to bring up options todeselect one or more zones in the zone group to be removed from the zonegroup. Other interactions and implementations for grouping andungrouping zones via a user interface such as the user interface 400 arealso possible. The representations of playback zones in the playbackzone region 420 may be dynamically updated as playback zone or zonegroup configurations are modified.

The playback status region 430 may include graphical representations ofaudio content that is presently being played, previously played, orscheduled to play next in the selected playback zone or zone group. Theselected playback zone or zone group may be visually distinguished onthe user interface, such as within the playback zone region 420 and/orthe playback status region 430. The graphical representations mayinclude track title, artist name, album name, album year, track length,and other relevant information that may be useful for the user to knowwhen controlling the media playback system via the user interface 400.

The playback queue region 440 may include graphical representations ofaudio content in a playback queue associated with the selected playbackzone or zone group. In some embodiments, each playback zone or zonegroup may be associated with a playback queue containing informationcorresponding to zero or more audio items for playback by the playbackzone or zone group. For instance, each audio item in the playback queuemay comprise a uniform resource identifier (URI), a uniform resourcelocator (URL) or some other identifier that may be used by a playbackdevice in the playback zone or zone group to find and/or retrieve theaudio item from a local audio content source or a networked audiocontent source, possibly for playback by the playback device.

In one example, a playlist may be added to a playback queue, in whichcase information corresponding to each audio item in the playlist may beadded to the playback queue. In another example, audio items in aplayback queue may be saved as a playlist. In a further example, aplayback queue may be empty, or populated but “not in use” when theplayback zone or zone group is playing continuously streaming audiocontent, such as Internet radio that may continue to play untilotherwise stopped, rather than discrete audio items that have playbackdurations. In an alternative embodiment, a playback queue can includeInternet radio and/or other streaming audio content items and be “inuse” when the playback zone or zone group is playing those items. Otherexamples are also possible.

When playback zones or zone groups are “grouped” or “ungrouped,”playback queues associated with the affected playback zones or zonegroups may be cleared or re-associated. For example, if a first playbackzone including a first playback queue is grouped with a second playbackzone including a second playback queue, the established zone group mayhave an associated playback queue that is initially empty, that containsaudio items from the first playback queue (such as if the secondplayback zone was added to the first playback zone), that contains audioitems from the second playback queue (such as if the first playback zonewas added to the second playback zone), or a combination of audio itemsfrom both the first and second playback queues. Subsequently, if theestablished zone group is ungrouped, the resulting first playback zonemay be re-associated with the previous first playback queue, or beassociated with a new playback queue that is empty or contains audioitems from the playback queue associated with the established zone groupbefore the established zone group was ungrouped. Similarly, theresulting second playback zone may be re-associated with the previoussecond playback queue, or be associated with a new playback queue thatis empty, or contains audio items from the playback queue associatedwith the established zone group before the established zone group wasungrouped. Other examples are also possible.

Referring back to the user interface 400 of FIG. 4 , the graphicalrepresentations of audio content in the playback queue region 440 mayinclude track titles, artist names, track lengths, and other relevantinformation associated with the audio content in the playback queue. Inone example, graphical representations of audio content may beselectable to bring up additional selectable icons to manage and/ormanipulate the playback queue and/or audio content represented in theplayback queue. For instance, a represented audio content may be removedfrom the playback queue, moved to a different position within theplayback queue, or selected to be played immediately, or after anycurrently playing audio content, among other possibilities. A playbackqueue associated with a playback zone or zone group may be stored in amemory on one or more playback devices in the playback zone or zonegroup, on a playback device that is not in the playback zone or zonegroup, and/or some other designated device.

The audio content sources region 450 may include graphicalrepresentations of selectable audio content sources from which audiocontent may be retrieved and played by the selected playback zone orzone group. Discussions pertaining to audio content sources may be foundin the following section.

d. Example Audio Content Sources

As indicated previously, one or more playback devices in a zone or zonegroup may be configured to retrieve for playback audio content (e.g.according to a corresponding URI or URL for the audio content) from avariety of available audio content sources. In one example, audiocontent may be retrieved by a playback device directly from acorresponding audio content source (e.g., a line-in connection). Inanother example, audio content may be provided to a playback device overa network via one or more other playback devices or network devices.

Example audio content sources may include a memory of one or moreplayback devices in a media playback system such as the media playbacksystem 100 of FIG. 1 , local music libraries on one or more networkdevices (such as a control device, a network-enabled personal computer,or a networked-attached storage (NAS), for example), streaming audioservices providing audio content via the Internet (e.g., the cloud), oraudio sources connected to the media playback system via a line-in inputconnection on a playback device or network devise, among otherpossibilities.

In some embodiments, audio content sources may be regularly added orremoved from a media playback system such as the media playback system100 of FIG. 1 . In one example, an indexing of audio items may beperformed whenever one or more audio content sources are added, removedor updated. Indexing of audio items may involve scanning foridentifiable audio items in all folders/directory shared over a networkaccessible by playback devices in the media playback system, andgenerating or updating an audio content database containing metadata(e.g., title, artist, album, track length, among others) and otherassociated information, such as a URI or URL for each identifiable audioitem found. Other examples for managing and maintaining audio contentsources may also be possible.

The above discussions relating to playback devices, controller devices,playback zone configurations, and media content sources provide onlysome examples of operating environments within which functions andmethods described below may be implemented. Other operating environmentsand configurations of media playback systems, playback devices, andnetwork devices not explicitly described herein may also be applicableand suitable for implementation of the functions and methods.

III. Example Method for Managing Two or More User Accounts

As indicated above, discussions herein involve managing two or more useraccounts via which a media playback system can access a serviceprovider. FIG. 5 shows an example media playback system environment 500within which the methods 600 and 700, as will be discussed below inconnection to FIGS. 6 and 7 , respectively, may be performed.

The media playback system environment 500 includes a first networkdevice 502, a second network device 504, a first playback device 506,and a second playback device 508. One or both of the first networkdevice 502 and the second network device 504 may be a control device,such as the control device 300 of FIG. 3 . The first playback device 506and the second playback device 508 may be playback devices in a mediaplayback system, and may both be similar to the playback device 200 ofFIG. 2 . As described, the first playback device 506 and the secondplayback device 508 may play media content individually or play mediacontent in synchrony, as part of a playback zone, or as part of a zonegroup.

As shown, the first network device 502 may be in communication, or is atleast capable of being in communication with the first playback device506 and/or the second playback device 508. Likewise, the second networkdevice 502 may be in communication, or is at least capable of being incommunication with the first playback device 506 and/or the secondplayback device 508. Being in the same media playback system, the firstplayback device 506 and the second playback device 508 may also be incommunication or are at least capable of being in communication. Thoughnot shown, the first network device 502 and the second network device504 may also be capable of being in communication.

In one example, the first network device 502 may be a network deviceused by a first user to access and control the media playback system,while the second network device 504 may be a network device used by asecond user to access and control the media playback system.

FIG. 6 shows an example flow diagram of a method 600 for managing two ormore user accounts via which a media playback system can access aservice provider. Method 600 shown in FIG. 6 presents an embodiment of amethod that can be implemented within an operating environmentinvolving, for example, the media playback system 100 of FIG. 1 , one ormore of the playback device 200 of FIG. 2 , and media playback systemenvironment 500 of FIG. 5 . In one example, the method 600 may beperformed by a playback device, such as the playback device 200 of FIG.2 , or one or more of the playback devices 506 and 508 of FIG. 5 . Inparticular, the method 600 may be performed by a processor of theplayback device, such as the processor 202 of the playback device 200, aprocessor of the playback device 506, or a processor of the playbackdevice 508. In another example, the method 600 may alternatively beperformed in whole or in part by a computing device, such as a server incommunication with the playback device.

Method 600 may include one or more operations, functions, or actions asillustrated by one or more of blocks 602-608. Although the blocks areillustrated in sequential order, these blocks may also be performed inparallel, and/or in a different order than those described herein. Also,the various blocks may be combined into fewer blocks, divided intoadditional blocks, and/or removed based upon the desired implementation.In addition, for the method 600 and other processes and methodsdisclosed herein, the flowchart shows functionality and operation of onepossible implementation of present embodiments. In this regard, eachblock may represent a module, a segment, or a portion of program code,which includes one or more instructions executable by a processor forimplementing specific logical functions or steps in the process. Theprogram code may be stored on any type of computer readable medium, forexample, such as a storage device including a disk or hard drive.

The computer readable medium may include non-transitory computerreadable medium, for example, such as computer-readable media thatstores data for short periods of time like register memory, processorcache and Random Access Memory (RAM). The computer readable medium mayalso include non-transitory media, such as secondary or persistent longterm storage, like read only memory (ROM), optical or magnetic disks,compact-disc read only memory (CD-ROM), for example. The computerreadable media may also be any other volatile or non-volatile storagesystems. The computer readable medium may be considered a computerreadable storage medium, for example, or a tangible storage device. Inaddition, for the method 600 and other processes and methods disclosedherein, each block may represent circuitry that is wired to perform thespecific logical functions in the process.

As shown in FIG. 6 , the method 600 involves maintaining data indicating(i) a first user account for a service provider and (ii) a firstpriority indicator corresponding to the first user account at block 602,receiving data indicating a second user account for the service providerat block 604, based on the received data indicating the second useraccount for the service provider, determining a second priorityindicator corresponding to the second user account at block 606, andcausing to be stored, data indicating (i) the second user account forthe service provider and (ii) the second priority indicatorcorresponding to the second user account at block 608.

At block 602, the method 600 involves maintaining data indicating (i) afirst user account for a service provider and (ii) a first priorityindicator corresponding to the first user account. As indicated above,method 600 may be performed by a device in a media playback system. Forillustration purposes, discussions of the method 600 herein maygenerally refer to the method 600 as being coordinated and/or performedat least in part by the first playback device 506 of FIG. 5 .Nevertheless, it is understood that the method 600 may also becoordinated and/or performed at least in part by the second playbackdevice 508.

In one example, the first playback device 506 may receive dataindicating the first user account for the service provider when thefirst user account is registered with the media playback system that thefirst playback device 506 is a part of. Registration of the first useraccount may allow the media playback system to access, and play mediacontent from the service provider using credentials of the first useraccount.

In one case, the playback device 506 may have received the dataindicating the first user account from a network device, such as one ofthe network devices 502 and 504. In such a case, the first user accountmay have been registered with the media playback system via the firstplayback device 506. As such, the first playback device 506 maydetermine the first priority indicator corresponding to the first useraccount.

In one instance, the first priority indicator may be a time stampindicating when the first user account for the service provider wasregistered with the media playback system. In another instance, thefirst priority indicator may be an incremental numeric value based on anumber of user accounts previously registered with a media playbacksystem. Additional description of priority indicators and determinationof priority indicators can be found below in connection to block 606.

In another example, the first playback device 506 may receive the dataindicating the first user account as well as the first priorityindicator corresponding to the first user account from another device inthe media playback system, such as the playback device 508. In such acase, the first user account may have been registered with the mediaplayback system via another device in the media playback system, and thedevice via which the first user account was registered may havedetermined the first priority indicator. The first playback device 506may have received the data from the device via which the first useraccount was registered either directly or via another device in themedia playback system.

The first playback device 506 may then store, either locally in memoryon the first playback device 506, or cause for storage in memory on adifferent device associated with the first playback device 506, the dataindicating the first user account and the first priority indicator.Maintaining data indicating the first user account and the firstpriority indicator may further involve receiving data indicating anymodifications to the first user account, the first priority indicator,and/or any other information associated with the first user account.Based on the data indicating the modifications, the first playbackdevice 506 may update the data indicating the first user account and thefirst priority indicator, and store or cause to be stored the updateddata. Other examples are also possible.

At block 604, the method 600 involves receiving data indicating a seconduser account for the service provider. In one example, the playbackdevice 506 may receive the data indicating the second user account whenthe second user account is being registered with the media playbacksystem via the playback device 506. For instance, the data indicatingthe second user account may further indicate that the second useraccount is registered with the media playback system that includes thefirst playback device 506 (and the second playback device 508).

As with the case described above in connection to the first user accountat block 602, registration of the second user account may allow themedia playback system to access, and play media content from the serviceprovider using credentials of the second user account.

In other words, a network device, such as the network device 502 or 504may be used to register the second user account with the media playbacksystem, and the network device may establish communication with themedia playback system via the playback device 506. The playback device506 may accordingly receive from the network device, the data indicatingthe second user account for the service provider.

At block 606, the method 600 involves based on the received dataindicating the second user account for the service provider, determininga second priority indicator corresponding to the second user account. Asindicated above in connection to block 602 and the first priorityindicator, a priority indicator for a user account may be a time stampindicating when the user account for the service provider was registeredwith the media playback system, an incremental numeric value based on anumber of user accounts previously registered with a media playbacksystem, or some combination of the time stamp and incremental numericvalue, among other possibilities.

As such, in one case, the playback device 506 may determine the secondpriority indicator by determining a time stamp corresponding to a timewhen the data indicating the second user account was received. In oneinstance, the time stamp may be a clock time of a processor of theplayback device 506, when the playback device 506 first received thedata indicating the second user account. In another instance, thereceived data indicating the second user account may further indicate atime stamp. In this instance, the time stamp may be a clock time of aprocessor of the network device that sent the data indicating the seconduser account when sending the data indicating the second user account.Other examples are also possible.

In another case, the playback device 506 may determine the secondpriority indicator by determining an order in which the second useraccount was registered with the media playback system. In one example,the numeric value may be determined based on a number of total useraccounts registered with the media playback system. For instance, iffour user accounts were registered with the media playback system priorto the second user account, the second priority indicator correspondingto the second user account may be determined as a numeric value of 5.

In another example, the numeric value may be determined based on anumber of user accounts for a particular service provider, registeredwith the media playback system. For instance, if four user accounts wereregistered with the media playback system prior to the second useraccount for the service provider, but only one of the four user accountsare for the same service provider as the second user account, the secondpriority indicator corresponding to the second user account may bedetermined as “SP3-2” where SP3 may indicate the service provider. Otherexamples are also possible.

At block 608, the method 600 involves causing to be stored, dataindicating (i) the second user account for the service provider and (ii)the second priority indicator corresponding to the second user account.In one example, the playback device 506 may store the data locally inmemory on the first playback device 506. In another example, theplayback device 506 may cause for storage, the data in memory on adifferent device associated with the first playback device 506.

In one case, the data indicating the second user account and the secondpriority indicator may be stored in a database that includes dataindicating the first user account and the first priority indicator. Thedatabase may further include data indicating other user accounts andpriority indicators corresponding to the other accounts.

In one example, the first playback device 506 may further transmit thedata indicating the second user account and the second priorityindicator to one or more other devices in the media playback system. Forinstance, the first playback device 506 may transmit the data indicatingthe second user account and the second priority indicator to the secondplayback device 508.

In one case, the second playback device 508 may accordingly store thedata indicating the second user account and the second priorityindicator, similar to that described in connection to the first playbackdevice 506 maintaining the data indicating the first user account andthe first priority indicator at block 602. In another case, if thesecond playback device 508 has stored on memory, data indicating aprevious version of a database of user accounts and priority indicatorsthat does not include the second user account and second priorityindicator, the second playback device 508 may update the databaseaccording to the received data indicating the second user account andsecond priority indicator.

In another example, if the data indicating the second user account andthe second priority indicator is stored in that database that alsoincludes data indicating the first user account and the first priorityindicator, the first playback device 506 may transmit data indicatingthe database to the second playback device 508. In one case, if thesecond playback device 508 has stored on memory, a previous version of adatabase of user accounts and priority indicators, the second playbackdevice 508 may compare the received database and the previous version ofthe database, and update the previous version of the database based onthe comparison. In this case, if the previous version of the databasedid not include the second user account and second priority indicator,the second playback device 508 may update the previous version of thedatabase by adding the second user account and the second priorityindicator.

In another case, the second playback device 508, upon receiving the dataindicating the database, may delete or archive the previous version ofthe database, and store the newly received database. Other examples arealso possible.

In addition to the functions described above in connection to method 600of FIG. 6 , additional functions may also be performed by the firstplayback device 506, or another device performing and/or coordinatingmethod 600, in addition to, or along with method 600. Some examples ofthe additional functions are described below in reference to method 600.Nevertheless, one having ordinary skill in the art will understand thatthe additional functions are not necessary to perform method 600.

In one example, the data indicating the second user account for theservice provider that is received by the first playback device 506 atblock 604 may further indicate a user account name. The user accountname may indicate a user name associated with the second user accountfor the service provider. Accordingly, the first playback device 506 mayfurther cause to be stored, data indicating an association between theuser name and the second user account. In one case, the user name may bean alias or screen name corresponding to the second user account. Inanother case, the user name may be an email address corresponding to thesecond user account.

In another example, the data indicating the second user account for theservice provider that is received by the first playback device 506 atblock 604 may further indicate a network device from which the data wasreceived. For instance, if the data indicating the second user accountwas received from the first network device 502, the data may furtherindicate that the data was received from the first network device 502.In one case, the data may indicate specifically that the second useraccount was registered, or is being registered with the media playbacksystem using the first network device 502. In another case, the data mayidentify a source of the data, therefore indicating the first networkdevice 502. Accordingly, the first playback device 506 may further causeto be stored, data indicating an association between a device identifierof the first network device 502 and the second user account.

In one example, the first playback device 506 may receive from a networkdevice, such as the network device 502 or 504, an instruction to playmedia content from the service provider. As indicated above, the serviceprovider may be accessed by the media playback system using at least thefirst user account or the second user account.

In one case, the first playback device 506 may identify one of at leastthe first user account and the second user account based on at least thefirst priority indicator and the second priority indicator. Forinstance, the first playback device 506 may identify one of at least thefirst user account and the second user account, based on which useraccount was registered with the media playback system earlier. As such,if the first priority indicator has a lower numeric value, or a timestamp indicating an earlier time than that of the second priorityindicator, the first playback device 506 may identify the first useraccount.

In another case, if the data indicating the first user account (asmaintained at block 602) further indicates the network device via whichthe first user account was registered, the first user account may beidentified if the instruction to play media content from the serviceprovider was received from the same network device via which the firstuser account was registered.

Based on the identification of the first user account, the firstplayback device 506 and/or other devices in the media playback system,may use the first user account to obtain from the service provider, themedia content to be played, and play the media content. For instance,the first playback device 506 may access the service provider usingaccess credentials associated with the first user account. As indicatedpreviously, the media content may include media items identified basedon media preferences, curated playlists, and/or custom playlistsassociated with the user account.

In another example, the instruction to play media content from theservice provider that is received from the network device may furtheridentify a user account (that is registered with the media playbacksystem) via which the media content should be obtained. In such a case,the first playback device 506 may accordingly use the identified useraccount to obtain from the service provider, the media content to beplayed, and play the media content. Other examples are also possible.

In one example, user accounts that are registered with the mediaplayback system may be active or inactive user accounts. In one case,the data maintained at block 602 may further indicate whether the firstuser account is an active user account. Similarly, the data stored atblock 608 may further indicate whether the second user is an active useraccount. In one case, user accounts that are registered with the mediaplayback system may be active by default, and only when a user accountis inactive is there any indication that the user account is inactive.Other examples are also possible.

In a case where the first user account is an active user account, thefirst playback device 506, or another device in the media playbacksystem, such as the second playback device 508, may receive an inputindicating that the first user account is to be deactivated. In oneexample, a user of the media playback system may wish to deactivate thefirst user account if the first user account belongs to a user that willnot be using the media playback system for some time. For instance, thefirst user account may belong to a child who has just left for college,or a roommate who has gone on vacation.

In response to the input to deactivate the first user account, the firstplayback device 506 may cause to be stored, data indicating that thefirst user account is an inactive account. In one case, the dataindicating the first user account and the first priority indicator, asmaintained at block 602, may be updated to indicate that the first useraccount is now inactive. In one instance, only the active or inactivestatus of the first user account is modified, while the first priorityindicator corresponding to the first user account remains unchanged.

In another case, the first playback device 506 may maintain a firstdatabase of active user accounts that includes data indicating useraccounts and corresponding priority indicators for active user accountsthat are registered with the media playback system. The first playbackdevice 506 may further maintain a second database of inactive useraccounts that includes data indicating user accounts and correspondingpriority indicators for inactive users that are registered with themedia playback system. In such a case, the first playback device 506,upon receiving the input to deactivate the first user account, maymodify the second database to include the first user account and thefirst priority indicator, and remove from the first database, the firstuser account and the first priority indicator.

In a further case, the first playback device 506 may maintain the firstdatabase of active user accounts registered with the media playbacksystem as described above, and instead of the second database ofinactive user accounts, the first playback device 506 may maintain adatabase of all user accounts registered with the media playback system,whether the user accounts are active or inactive. In this case, thefirst playback device 506, upon receiving the input to deactivate thefirst user account, may remove from the first database, the first useraccount and the first priority indicator, without modifying the thirddatabase. Other examples are also possible.

Subsequently, the first playback device 506 or another device in themedia playback system, such as the second playback device 508, mayreceive an input indicating that the first user account is to beactivated. In one case, first playback device 506 may responsively,identify the first priority indicator corresponding to the first useraccount. For instance, the first playback device 506 may access the dataindicating the first user account and identify the first priorityindicator corresponding to the first user account.

The first playback device 506 may then cause to be stored, dataindicating (i) the first user account for a service provider, (ii) thefirst priority indicator corresponding to the first user account, and(iii) that the first user account is an active account. For instance,the data indicating the first user account and the first priorityindicator may be updated to indicate that the first user account is nowactive.

In the case the first playback device 506 maintains a first database ofactive user accounts registered to the media playback system and asecond database of inactive user accounts registered to the mediaplayback system, the first playback device 506, responsive to the inputto activate the first user account, may modify the first database toonce again include the first user account and the first priorityindicator, and remove from the second database, the first user accountand the first priority indicator.

In the case the first playback device 506 maintains the first databaseof active user accounts registered to the media playback system and thethird database of all user accounts registered to the media playbacksystem, the first playback device 506, responsive to the input toactivate the first user account, may modify the first database to onceagain include the first user account and the first priority indicator,without modifying the third database. In one case, the first playbackdevice 506 may identify the first user account and the first priorityindicator in the third database to be stored again in the firstdatabase. Other examples are also possible.

In one example, a network device in communication with the mediaplayback system, such as the network device 502 or 504 may transmit to adevice in the media playback system, such as the first playback device506, a request for data indicating service providers associated with themedia playback system. In one instance, the network device may transmitthe request when a software application that provides a controllerinterface for controlling the media playback system is launched on thenetwork device, and the network device is retrieving informationassociated with the media playback system to display on the controllerinterface. For instance, the network device may be configured to provideon the controller interface, graphical representations of the serviceproviders from which the media playback system may play media content.

In one example, the request for data indicating service providersassociated with the media playback system may further include a requestfor data indicating one or more user accounts via which the mediaplayback system can access the service providers.

In one case, the first playback device 506 may determine that thenetwork device is configured to provide access to service providers, viathe controller interface, using a single account per service provider.In other words, referencing the examples above, the first playbackdevice 506 may determine that the network device is configured toprovide access to the service provider using either the first useraccount or the second user account, but not both.

In one case, the configuration to provide access to the service providerusing only a single account may involve a software version of thesoftware application providing the controller interface. In anothercase, the configuration to provide access to the service provider usingonly a single account may involve access restrictions implemented by theservice provider. In this case, the network device may be configured toprovide access to some service providers using multiple accounts, andsome other service providers using only a single account per serviceprovider. Other examples are also possible.

In the case the network device is configured to provide access to theservice provider using either the first user account or the second useraccount, the first playback device 506 may determine based on at leastthe first priority indicator corresponding to the first user account,and the second priority indicator corresponding to the second useraccount, which user account the network device is to provide foraccessing the service provider. The identified user account may bereferred to herein as a default user account corresponding to thenetwork device.

Similar to that discussed above, the first playback device 506 mayidentify one of at least the first user account and the second useraccount, based on which user account was registered with the mediaplayback system earlier. As such, if the first priority indicator has alower numeric value, or a time stamp indicating an earlier time thanthat of the second priority indicator, the first playback device 506 mayidentify the first user account as the default user account.

As also discussed above, if the data indicating the first user account(as maintained at block 602) further indicates the network device viawhich the first user account was registered, the first user account maybe identified if the request for data indicating the service providersassociated with the media playback system was received from the samenetwork device via which the first user account was registered.

Upon identifying the first user account, the first playback device 506may transmit to the network device, data indicating (i) the serviceprovider and (ii) the first user account for the service provider, amongother information relating to the first user account. In one case, noinformation relating to the second user account is transmitted to thenetwork device.

In another case, the first playback device 506 may determine that thenetwork device is configured to provide access to service providers, viathe controller interface, using one or more user accounts per serviceprovider. In other words, referencing the examples above, the firstplayback device 506 may determine that the network device is configuredto provide access to the service provider using both the first useraccount and the second user account.

Responsively, the first playback device 506 may transmit to the networkdevice, data indicating (i) the service provider, (ii) the first useraccount for the service provider, among other information relating tothe first user account, and (iii) the second user account for theservice provider, among other information relating to the first useraccount. In one case, data indicating the first priority indicatorcorresponding to the first user account and data indicating the secondpriority indicator corresponding to the second user account may also betransmitted to the network device. Other examples are also possible.

Further in this example, the first playback device 506 may alsodetermine a default user account via which the network device mayprovide access to the service provider. While both the first useraccount and the second user account may be active users and may be usedto access the service provider, the default user account may be used toaccess the service provider by default. Additional inputs may berequired to access the service provider using a user account other thanthe default user account.

The first playback device 506 may determine based on at least the firstpriority indicator corresponding to the first user account, and thesecond priority indicator corresponding to the second user account,which user account is the default user account via which the networkdevice may provide access to the service provider.

Similar to that discussed above, the first playback device 506 mayidentify one of at least the first user account and the second useraccount, based on which user account was registered with the mediaplayback system earlier. As such, if the first priority indicator has alower numeric value, or a time stamp indicating an earlier time thanthat of the second priority indicator, the first playback device 506 mayidentify the first user account as the default account for the networkdevice.

As also discussed above, if the data indicating the first user account(as maintained at block 602) further indicates the network device viawhich the first user account was registered, the first user account maybe identified as the default account if the request for data indicatingthe service providers associated with the media playback system wasreceived from the same network device via which the first user accountwas registered. Other examples are also possible.

Further discussions relating to a network device, such as the firstnetwork device 502 or the second network device 504, providing access toone or more service providers via one or more user accounts are providedin the following section.

While the methods described above are generally discussed as beingperformed by a playback device, and more specifically, the playbackdevice 506, one having ordinary skill in the art will appreciate one ormore functions described above may alternatively performed by one ormore other devices in communication with the playback device 506. Forinstance, the media playback system may further include a particularpriority indicator device that is configured to determine priorityindicators. In such a case, block 606 may involve the playback device506 transmitting a request for priority indicators to the priorityindicator device, and subsequently receive from the priority indicatordevice, the second priority indicator. In one example, the priorityindicator device may determine the second priority indicator accordingto that described in connection to block 606. Other examples are alsopossible.

IV. Example Method for Displaying at Least One of Two or More UserAccounts

As indicated above, discussions herein involve displaying on a graphicaldisplay, graphical representations of at least one of the two or moreuser accounts via which a media playback system can access a serviceprovider. FIG. 7 shows an example flow diagram of a method 700 fordisplaying graphical representations indicating at least one of two ormore user accounts via which a media playback system can access aservice provider.

Method 700 shown in FIG. 7 presents an embodiment of a method that canbe implemented within an operating environment involving, for example,the media playback system 100 of FIG. 1 , one or more of the playbackdevice 200 of FIG. 2 , one or more of the control device 300 of FIG. 3 ,and the media playback system environment 500 of FIG. 5 , respectively.In one example, the method 700 may be performed by a device such as thecontrol device 300 of FIG. 3 , the network device 502 of FIG. 5 , or thenetwork device 504 of FIG. 5 . In particular, the method 700 may beperformed by a processor of the device, such as the processor 302 of thecontrol device 300, a processor of the network device 502, or aprocessor of the network device 504. In another example, the method 700may alternatively be performed in whole or in part by a computingdevice, such as a server in communication with the playback device.

Method 700 may include one or more operations, functions, or actions asillustrated by one or more of blocks 702-706. Although the blocks areillustrated in sequential order, these blocks may also be performed inparallel, and/or in a different order than those described herein. Also,the various blocks may be combined into fewer blocks, divided intoadditional blocks, and/or removed based upon the desired implementation.

As shown in FIG. 7 , the method 700 involves receiving from a playbackdevice, data indicating (i) a service provider, (ii) a first useraccount for the service provider, and (iii) a second user account forthe service provider at block 702, based on the received data,identifying the first user account as a default user accountcorresponding to the device at block 704, and causing a graphicaldisplay to display a graphical representation that indicates the firstuser account is an active user account at block 706.

For illustration purposes, discussions of the method 700 herein maygenerally refer to the method 700 as being be coordinated and/orperformed at least in part by the first network device 502 of FIG. 5 .Nevertheless, it is understood that the method 600 may also becoordinated and/or performed at least in part by the second networkdevice 504.

At block 702, the method 700 involves receiving from a playback device,data indicating (i) a service provider, (ii) a first user account forthe service provider, and (iii) a second user account for the serviceprovider. Continuing with the examples above, the playback device may beone or more of the first playback device 506, the second playback device508, or any other device in the media playback system described above inconnection to FIG. 5 .

In one example, the data indicating the service provider, the first useraccount, and the second user account may be received from the firstplayback device 506 when the first network device 502 establishedcommunication with the media playback system. For instance, as describedpreviously, the first network device 502 and the media playback systemmay establish communication when a software application that provides acontroller interface for controlling the media playback system islaunched.

In one example, the software application may be launched when a usercauses the first network device 502 to launch the software applicationbecause the user wishes to access the media playback system. In anotherexample, the software application may be launched when the first networkdevice 502 moves within communicative range of the media playbacksystem. Other examples are also possible.

Upon launching of the software application, the first network device 502may begin retrieving information associated with the media playbacksystem to display on the controller interface. In such a case, the firstnetwork device 502 may transmit to the first playback device 506, arequest for data indicating service providers that the media playbackdevice may access and play media content from, and user accounts viawhich the media playback device may access the service providers. In oneinstance, the data indicating the service provider, the first useraccount, and the second user account may be received subsequent to thetransmission of the request. As indicated previously, the first playbackdevice 506 may transmit the data indicating the service provider, thefirst user account and the second user account in response to therequest from the first network device 502.

In some cases, the data may further include additional informationrelating to the service providers and the user accounts. For instance,the data may further indicate one or more of the first priorityindicator associated with the first user account, the second priorityindicator associated with the second user account, an associationbetween the first user account and the first network device 502, anassociation between the second user account and the first network device502, a user name associated with the first user account, and a user nameassociated with the second user account, among other possibilities. Inone instance, the data may indicate which of the first user account andthe second user account is a default user account via which the firstnetwork device 502 is to access the service provider. Other examples arealso possible.

At block 704, the method 700 involves based on the received data,identifying the first user account as a default user accountcorresponding to the device. In one example, if the received dataindicates the first priority indicator corresponding to the first useraccount and the second priority indicator corresponding to the seconduser account, identifying the first user account as the default useraccount corresponding to the first network device 502 may involvedetermining that the first user account has a higher priority than thesecond user account, and responsively, identifying the first useraccount as the default user account.

In one case, the network device may identify that the first user accounthas a higher priority than the second user account based on the firstpriority indicator indicating a time stamp earlier than a time stampindicated by the second priority indicator. In another example, thenetwork device may identify the first user account as the default useraccount for the service provider based on the first priority indicatorindicating a numeric value smaller than a numeric value indicated by thesecond priority indicator. In other words, in these examples, anearliest registered user account for the service provider may beidentified as having a higher priority, and may therefore be identifiedas the default user account.

In another example, if the received data indicates an associationbetween the first user account and the first network device 502,identifying the first user account as the default account may be basedon the association between the first user account and the first networkdevice 502. For instance, if the association between the first useraccount and the first network device 502 indicates that the firstnetwork device 502 is the device via which the first user account wasregistered to the media playback system, the first user account may beidentified as the default user account corresponding to the firstnetwork device 502.

In a further example, if the received data indicates which of the firstuser account and the second user account is a default user account viawhich the first network device 502 is to access the service provider,the first network device 502 may identify the default user accountaccordingly. For instance, if the received data indicates that the firstuser account is to be the default user account, then the first networkdevice 502 may accordingly identify the first user account as thedefault user account based on the received data. Other examples are alsopossible.

Based on the determination that the first user account is the defaultuser account corresponding to the first network device 502, the defaultuser account may be used to access the service provider by default whenthe media playback system accesses the service provider in response toan input from the first network device 502. As indicated previously,additional inputs may be required to access the service provider using auser account other than the default user account.

At block 706, the method 700 involves causing a graphical display todisplay a graphical representation that indicates the first user accountis an active user account. The graphical display may be a graphicaldisplay of the network device 502, and the graphical representation maybe a part of the controller interface for controlling the media playbacksystem. FIG. 8 shows an example graphical interface 800 displaying useraccounts via which a media playback system can access a serviceprovider. In one example, the graphical interface 800 may be a versionof the audio content sources region 450 shown in FIG. 4 .

As shown, graphical representation 802 indicates that media content fromservice provider “Service Provider 1” is available via user account“Account 1,” graphical representation 804 indicates that media contentfrom Service Provider 1 is also available via user account “Account 2,”and graphical representation 806 indicates that media content fromservice provider “Service Provider 2” is available via user account“Account 3.” For illustration purposes, Account 1 may be a user name ofthe first user account described previously, Account 2 may be a username of the second user account described previously, and ServiceProvider 1 may be the service provider accessible via the first useraccount and the second user account.

In this example, the graphical representations 802 and 804 indicate thatthe Service Provider 1 may be accessible via both Account 1 and Account2. In other words, both Account 1 and Account 2 may be active useraccounts via which the media playback system may access ServiceProvider 1. In this case, the graphical representation 802 may bedisplayed above the graphical representation 804 because Account 1 wasidentified as a default account for accessing Service Provider 1. Inother words, unless otherwise instructed, the media playback system mayaccess Service Provider 1 via Account 1, rather than Account 2.

In one example, each of the graphical representations 802-806 may beselectable to further browse and select media content from therespective service provider. A selection of the graphical representation806, for example, may cause the graphical display to display options forselecting media content from Service Provider 2 via Account 3 to beplayed by the media playback system. From the graphical display, one ormore inputs may then be received to cause the media playback system,including the first playback device 506 and the second playback device508 to play particular media content from Service Provider 2. Based onthe one or more inputs, the first network device 502 may then send to atleast one of the first playback device 506 and the second playbackdevice 508, data indicating the particular media content from ServiceProvider 2 that the playback devices 506 and/or 508 are to retrieveusing Account 3 and play. Other examples are also possible.

FIGS. 9A-9C show a series of an example graphical interface 900illustrating switching from a first user account via which a mediaplayback system can access a service provider to a second user accountvia which the media playback system can access the service provider. Asshown in FIG. 9A, graphical representation 902 a indicates that themedia playback system can access service provider “Service Provider 1”via user account “Account 1,” graphical representation 904 indicatesthat the media playback system can access service provider “ServiceProvider 2” via user account “Account 3,” and graphical representation906 indicates that the media playback system can access service provider“Service Provider 3” via user account “Account 4.”

As shown, graphical representations corresponding to only one useraccount per service provider is displayed. In this case, Account 1 maybe the default user account for accessing Service Provider 1 whencontrolling the media playback system via the network device 502,Account 3 may be the default user account for accessing Service Provider2 when controlling the media playback system via the network device 502,and Account 4 may be the default user account for accessing ServiceProvider 3 when controlling the media playback system via the networkdevice 502.

In one example, each of the graphical representations 902 a-906 may beselectable to further browse and select media content from therespective service provider. As such, a selection of the graphicalrepresentation 906, for example, may cause the graphical display todisplay options for selecting media content from Service Provider 3 viaAccount 4 to be played by the media playback system. In one case, theselection to prompt the graphical display to display further options forselecting media content from the respective service provider via therespective user account may be a first type of selection. The first typeof selection may include a tap, or a left mouse-click, among otherexamples.

In another example, one or more of the graphical representations 902a-906 may be selectable to change the active user account for accessingthe respective service provider. In one case, a second type of selectionof the one or more graphical representation 902 a-906 may prompt thegraphical display to display options for changing the active useraccount for accessing the respective service provider. The second typeof selection may include a double tap, or a right mouse-click amongother examples.

FIG. 9B shows the example graphical interface in response to a secondtype of selection on the graphical representation 902. As shown, aprompt 908 is provided, listing example user accounts Account 2 andAccount 5, in addition to Account 1. Each of Account 1, Account 2, andAccount 5 may be active user accounts via which the media playbacksystem can access Service Provider 1. A subsequently selection ofAccount 2 may be made within the prompt 908. The selection of Account 2may indicate an input to change the active user via which the mediaplayback device accesses Service Provider 1 from Account 1 to Account 2.

FIG. 9C shows the example graphical interface after a selection ofAccount 2 in the prompt 908 was made in FIG. 9B. Accordingly, asindicated by graphical representation 902 b, Account 2 may now be theactive user account via which the media playback system may accessService Provider 1. A selection of the first type on the graphicalrepresentation 902 b may accordingly cause the graphical display todisplay options for selecting media content from Service Provider 1 viaAccount 2 to be played by the media playback system.

In another case, rather than displaying the prompt 908 as shown in FIG.9B, a selection of the second type on the graphical representation 902 amay toggle to the graphical representation 902 b. A subsequent selectionof the second type on the graphical representation 902 b may toggle to agraphical representation (not shown) indicating that the active useraccount via which the media playback system may access Service Provider1 is Account 5. A further selection of the second type on that graphicalrepresentation may then toggle back to graphical representation 902 a,indicating once again that Account 1 is the active account via which themedia playback system may access Service Provider 1. Other examples arealso possible.

In one example, changing the active account via which the media playbacksystem is to access a service provider may apply only to a currentcontroller interface interaction. In other words, when the controllerapplication is launched again on the network device 502 at a futuretime, the active user account(s) and the default user account for thenetwork device 502 may be determined as described above, and may notdepend on whether the active user was changed during the currentcontroller interface interaction.

In another example, changing the active account via which the mediaplayback system is to access a service provider may further indicate achange in the default account corresponding to the network device 502.In one example, upon changing the active account and accessing mediacontent using the changed active user account, the network device 502may cause the graphical display to display a prompt to indicate whetherthe default account for the network device 502 should be changed to thechanged active user account. In one case, if the network device 502responsively receives an input indicating that the default account forthe network device 502 is to be changed to the changed active useraccount, the network device 502 may send to the playback device 506, oranother device in the media playback system such as the playback device508, data indicating that the changed active user account is to becomethe default user account corresponding to the device. The playbackdevice 508 as described above in connection to block 602, mayaccordingly update data indicating the first user account and/or dataindicating the second user account to further indicate that the seconduser account is now the default user account corresponding to thenetwork device 502. Other examples are also possible.

In some cases, a graphical representation may also be provided, whilemedia content from a service provider is being played by the mediaplayback system, to indicate which user account was used to access theplaying media content. In one example, the graphical representation maybe provided on a portion of the controller interface on the networkdevice 502 similar to the playback status region 430 of FIG. 4 . Thegraphical representation may indicate that playback history oridentified media preferences generated during the current playback ofmedia content may be associated with the user account identified by thegraphical representation. Other examples are also possible.

V. Conclusion

The description above discloses, among other things, various examplesystems, methods, apparatus, and articles of manufacture including,among other components, firmware and/or software executed on hardware.It is understood that such examples are merely illustrative and shouldnot be considered as limiting. For example, it is contemplated that anyor all of the firmware, hardware, and/or software aspects or componentscan be embodied exclusively in hardware, exclusively in software,exclusively in firmware, or in any combination of hardware, software,and/or firmware. Accordingly, the examples provided are not the onlyway(s) to implement such systems, methods, apparatus, and/or articles ofmanufacture.

Additionally, references herein to “embodiment” means that a particularfeature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with theembodiment can be included in at least one example embodiment of aninvention. The appearances of this phrase in various places in thespecification are not necessarily all referring to the same embodiment,nor are separate or alternative embodiments mutually exclusive of otherembodiments. As such, the embodiments described herein, explicitly andimplicitly understood by one skilled in the art, can be combined withother embodiments.

The specification is presented largely in terms of illustrativeenvironments, systems, procedures, steps, logic blocks, processing, andother symbolic representations that directly or indirectly resemble theoperations of data processing devices coupled to networks. These processdescriptions and representations are typically used by those skilled inthe art to most effectively convey the substance of their work to othersskilled in the art. Numerous specific details are set forth to provide athorough understanding of the present disclosure. However, it isunderstood to those skilled in the art that certain embodiments of thepresent disclosure can be practiced without certain, specific details.In other instances, well known methods, procedures, components, andcircuitry have not been described in detail to avoid unnecessarilyobscuring aspects of the embodiments. Accordingly, the scope of thepresent disclosure is defined by the appended claims rather than theforgoing description of embodiments.

When any of the appended claims are read to cover a purely softwareand/or firmware implementation, at least one of the elements in at leastone example is hereby expressly defined to include a tangible,non-transitory medium such as a memory, DVD, CD, Blu-ray, and so on,storing the software and/or firmware.

The invention claimed is:
 1. A non-transitory computer-readable mediumcomprising program instructions that are executable by at least oneprocessor such that a computing device is configured to: while a firstuser account is selected in a control application configured to controla media playback system comprising playback devices that are connectedto a local area network, display, via a graphical display, a graphicaluser interface of the control application, the graphical user interfacecomprising (1) a first region comprising (i) an indication of a mediaplayback system identifier corresponding to the media playback systemand (ii) respective indications of each zone that is playing audiocontent in the media playback system, and wherein each zone includes atleast one playback device and (2) a second region comprising respectiveindications of a first set of streaming media services that areaccessible for streaming audio to the zones of the media playback systemwhile the first user account is selected; display, via the graphicaluser interface of the control application, a user account controlselectable to select among multiple user accounts in the controlapplication; receive, via the user account control, input datarepresenting a selection of a second user account; switch the controlapplication from selection of the first user account to selection of thesecond user account; after the control application is switched fromselection of the first user account to selection of the second useraccount, modify the graphical user interface to display, in the secondregion in place of the respective indications of the first set ofstreaming media services, respective indications of a second set ofstreaming media services that are accessible for streaming audio to thezones of the media playback system while the second user account isselected, wherein the second set is different than the first set;receive, via the graphical user interface, input data representing aselection of a playlist of audio tracks from at least one particularstreaming media service in the second set of streaming media services;and cause, via a network interface, at least one particular zone in themedia playback system to play back the selected playlist of audiotracks, wherein, during playback, at least one given playback device inthe at least one particular zone streams data streams representing theaudio tracks from one or more servers of the at least one particularstreaming audio service.
 2. The non-transitory computer-readable mediumof claim 1, wherein the program instructions that are executable by theat least one processor such that the computing device is configured todisplay the user account control selectable to select among multipleuser accounts in the control application comprise program instructionsthat are executable by the at least one processor such that thecomputing device is configured to: display a drop-down menu comprisingcontrols selectable to select respective user accounts.
 3. Thenon-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 1, wherein the firstset of streaming media services includes a first streaming mediaservice, wherein the second set of streaming media services includes thefirst streaming media service, wherein the first user account isassociated with a first service provider user account of the firststreaming media service, and wherein the second user account isassociated with a second service provider user account of the firststreaming media service.
 4. The non-transitory computer-readable mediumof claim 3, wherein the non-transitory computer-readable medium furthercomprises program instructions that are executable by the at least oneprocessor such that the computing device is configured to: while thefirst user account is selected in the control application, display firstcustom playlists of media items from the first streaming media service,the playlists associated with the first service provider user account;and while the second user account is selected in the controlapplication, display second custom playlists of media items from thefirst streaming media service, the playlists associated with the secondservice provider user account, wherein the program instructions that areexecutable by the at least one processor such that the computing deviceis configured to receive the input data representing the selection ofplaylist of audio tracks from at least one particular streaming mediaservice in the second set of streaming media services comprise programinstructions that are executable by the at least one processor such thatthe computing device is configured to: receive input data representing aselection from among the playlists associated with the second serviceprovider user account.
 5. The non-transitory computer-readable medium ofclaim 3, wherein the non-transitory computer-readable medium furthercomprises program instructions that are executable by the at least oneprocessor such that the computing device is configured to: while thefirst user account is selected in the control application, display firstmedia items suggested by the first streaming media service according tofirst preferences of the first service provider user account; and whilethe second user account is selected in the control application, displaysecond media items suggested by the first streaming media serviceaccording to second preferences of the second service provider useraccount, wherein the program instructions that are executable by the atleast one processor such that the computing device is configured toreceive the input data representing the selection of playlist of audiotracks from at least one particular streaming media service in thesecond set of streaming media services comprise program instructionsthat are executable by the at least one processor such that thecomputing device is configured to: receive input data representing aselection from among the second media items suggested by the firststreaming media service.
 6. The non-transitory computer-readable mediumof claim 3, wherein the non-transitory computer-readable medium furthercomprises program instructions that are executable by the at least oneprocessor such that the computing device is configured to: while thefirst user account is selected in the control application, display firstInternet radio stations associated with the first service provider useraccount; and while the second user account is selected in the controlapplication, display second Internet radio stations associated with thesecond service provider user account, wherein the program instructionsthat are executable by the at least one processor such that thecomputing device is configured to receive the input data representingthe selection of playlist of audio tracks from at least one particularstreaming media service in the second set of streaming media servicescomprise program instructions that are executable by the at least oneprocessor such that the computing device is configured to: receive inputdata representing a selection of a particular second Internet radiostation.
 7. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 1,wherein the first set of streaming media services includes a firststreaming media service and excludes a second streaming media service,wherein the second set of streaming media services includes the secondstreaming media service and excludes the first streaming media service,wherein the first user account is associated with a service provideruser account of the first streaming media service, and wherein thesecond user account is associated with a service provider user accountof the second streaming media service.
 8. The non-transitorycomputer-readable medium of claim 7, wherein the non-transitorycomputer-readable medium further comprises program instructions that areexecutable by the at least one processor such that the computing deviceis configured to: while the first user account is selected in thecontrol application, display first custom playlists of media items fromthe first streaming media service, the playlists associated with theservice provider user account of the first streaming media service; andwhile the second user account is selected in the control application,display second custom playlists of media items from the second streamingmedia service, the playlists associated with the service provider useraccount of the second streaming media service, wherein the programinstructions that are executable by the at least one processor such thatthe computing device is configured to receive the input datarepresenting the selection of playlist of audio tracks from at least oneparticular streaming media service in the second set of streaming mediaservices comprise program instructions that are executable by the atleast one processor such that the computing device is configured to:receive input data representing a selection from among the second customplaylists of media items from the second streaming media service.
 9. Thenon-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 7, wherein thenon-transitory computer-readable medium further comprises programinstructions that are executable by the at least one processor such thatthe computing device is configured to: while the first user account isselected in the control application, display first media items suggestedby the first streaming media service according to first preferences ofthe service provider user account of the first streaming media service;and while the second user account is selected in the controlapplication, display second media items suggested by the secondstreaming media service according to second preferences of the serviceprovider user account of the second streaming media service, wherein theprogram instructions that are executable by the at least one processorsuch that the computing device is configured to receive the input datarepresenting the selection of playlist of audio tracks from at least oneparticular streaming media service in the second set of streaming mediaservices comprise program instructions that are executable by the atleast one processor such that the computing device is configured to:receive input data representing a selection from among the second mediaitems suggested by the second streaming media service.
 10. Thenon-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 1, wherein the at leastone particular zone comprises a first zone and a second zone, whereinthe first zone and the second zone are configured in a synchrony group,wherein the program instructions that are executable by the at least oneprocessor such that the computing device is configured to cause the atleast one particular zone in the media playback system to play back theselected playlist of audio tracks comprises program instructions thatare executable by the at least one processor such that the computingdevice is configured to: cause at least one first playback device of thefirst zone to play back the selected playlist of audio tracks insynchrony with at least one second playback device of the second zone.11. A computing system comprising: a network interface configured tofacilitate communication via at least one data network; at least oneprocessor; and at least one non-transitory computer-readable mediumcomprising program instructions that are executable by the at least oneprocessor such that the computing system is configured to: while a firstuser account is selected in a control application configured to controla media playback system comprising playback devices that are connectedto a local area network, cause display of a graphical user interface ofthe control application, the graphical user interface comprising (1) afirst region comprising (i) an indication of a media playback systemidentifier corresponding to the media playback system and (ii)respective indications of each zone that is playing audio content in themedia playback system, and wherein each zone includes at least oneplayback device and (2) a second region comprising respectiveindications of a first set of streaming media services that areaccessible for streaming audio to the zones of the media playback systemwhile the first user account is selected; cause the graphical userinterface to display a user account control selectable to select amongmultiple user accounts in the control application; receive, via the useraccount control, input data representing a selection of a second useraccount; switch the control application from selection of the first useraccount to selection of the second user account; after the controlapplication is switched from selection of the first user account toselection of the second user account, cause modification of thegraphical user interface to display, in the second region in place ofthe respective indications of the first set of streaming media services,respective indications of a second set of streaming media services thatare accessible for streaming audio to the zones of the media playbacksystem while the second user account is selected, wherein the second setis different than the first set; receive, via the graphical userinterface, input data representing a selection of a playlist of audiotracks from at least one particular streaming media service in thesecond set of streaming media services; and cause, via the networkinterface, at least one particular zone in the media playback system toplay back the selected playlist of audio tracks, wherein, duringplayback, at least one given playback device in the at least particularone zone streams data streams representing the audio tracks from one ormore servers of the at least one particular streaming audio service. 12.The computing system of claim 11, wherein the program instructions thatare executable by the at least one processor such that the computingsystem is configured to cause the graphical user interface to displaythe user account control selectable to select among multiple useraccounts in the control application comprise program instructions thatare executable by the at least one processor such that the computingsystem is configured to: cause the graphical user interface to display adrop-down menu comprising controls selectable to select respective useraccounts.
 13. The computing system of claim 11, wherein the first set ofstreaming media services includes a first streaming media service,wherein the second set of streaming media services includes the firststreaming media service, wherein the first user account is associatedwith a first service provider user account of the first streaming mediaservice, and wherein the second user account is associated with a secondservice provider user account of the first streaming media service. 14.The computing system of claim 13, wherein the at least onenon-transitory computer-readable medium further comprises programinstructions that are executable by the at least one processor such thatthe computing system is configured to: while the first user account isselected in the control application, cause the graphical user interfaceto display first custom playlists of media items from the firststreaming media service, the playlists associated with the first serviceprovider user account; and while the second user account is selected inthe control application, cause the graphical user interface to displaysecond custom playlists of media items from the first streaming mediaservice, the playlists associated with the second service provider useraccount, wherein the program instructions that are executable by the atleast one processor such that the computing system is configured toreceive the input data representing the selection of playlist of audiotracks from at least one particular streaming media service in thesecond set of streaming media services comprise program instructionsthat are executable by the at least one processor such that thecomputing system is configured to: receive input data representing aselection from among the playlists associated with the second serviceprovider user account.
 15. The computing system of claim 13, wherein theat least one non-transitory computer-readable medium further comprisesprogram instructions that are executable by the at least one processorsuch that the computing system is configured to: while the first useraccount is selected in the control application, cause the graphical userinterface to display first media items suggested by the first streamingmedia service according to first preferences of the first serviceprovider user account; and while the second user account is selected inthe control application, cause the graphical user interface to displaysecond media items suggested by the first streaming media serviceaccording to second preferences of the second service provider useraccount, wherein the program instructions that are executable by the atleast one processor such that the computing system is configured toreceive the input data representing the selection of playlist of audiotracks from at least one particular streaming media service in thesecond set of streaming media services comprise program instructionsthat are executable by the at least one processor such that thecomputing system is configured to: receive input data representing aselection from among the second media items suggested by the firststreaming media service.
 16. The computing system of claim 13, whereinthe at least one non-transitory computer-readable medium furthercomprises program instructions that are executable by the at least oneprocessor such that the computing system is configured to: while thefirst user account is selected in the control application, cause thegraphical user interface to display first Internet radio stationsassociated with the first service provider user account; and while thesecond user account is selected in the control application, cause thegraphical user interface to display second Internet radio stationsassociated with the second service provider user account, wherein theprogram instructions that are executable by the at least one processorsuch that the computing system is configured to receive the input datarepresenting the selection of playlist of audio tracks from at least oneparticular streaming media service in the second set of streaming mediaservices comprise program instructions that are executable by the atleast one processor such that the computing system is configured to:receive input data representing a selection of a particular secondInternet radio station.
 17. The computing system of claim 11, whereinthe first set of streaming media services includes a first streamingmedia service and excludes a second streaming media service, wherein thesecond set of streaming media services includes the second streamingmedia service and excludes the first streaming media service, whereinthe first user account is associated with a service provider useraccount of the first streaming media service, and wherein the seconduser account is associated with a service provider user account of thesecond streaming media service.
 18. The computing system of claim 17,wherein the at least one non-transitory computer-readable medium furthercomprises program instructions that are executable by the at least oneprocessor such that the computing system is configured to: while thefirst user account is selected in the control application, cause thegraphical user interface to display first custom playlists of mediaitems from the first streaming media service, the playlists associatedwith the service provider user account of the first streaming mediaservice; and while the second user account is selected in the controlapplication, cause the graphical user interface to display second customplaylists of media items from the second streaming media service, theplaylists associated with the service provider user account of thesecond streaming media service, wherein the program instructions thatare executable by the at least one processor such that the computingsystem is configured to receive the input data representing theselection of playlist of audio tracks from at least one particularstreaming media service in the second set of streaming media servicescomprise program instructions that are executable by the at least oneprocessor such that the computing system is configured to: receive inputdata representing a selection from among the second custom playlists ofmedia items from the second streaming media service.
 19. The computingsystem of claim 17, wherein the non-transitory computer-readable mediumfurther comprises program instructions that are executable by the atleast one processor such that the computing system is configured to:while the first user account is selected in the control application,cause the graphical user interface to display first media itemssuggested by the first streaming media service according to firstpreferences of the service provider user account of the first streamingmedia service; and while the second user account is selected in thecontrol application, cause the graphical user interface to displaysecond media items suggested by the second streaming media serviceaccording to second preferences of the service provider user account ofthe second streaming media service, wherein the program instructionsthat are executable by the at least one processor such that thecomputing system is configured to receive the input data representingthe selection of playlist of audio tracks from at least one particularstreaming media service in the second set of streaming media servicescomprise program instructions that are executable by the at least oneprocessor such that the computing system is configured to: receive inputdata representing a selection from among the second media itemssuggested by the second streaming media service.
 20. A methodcomprising: while a first user account is selected in a controlapplication configured to control a media playback system comprisingplayback devices that are connected to a local area network, causingdisplay of a graphical user interface of the control application, thegraphical user interface comprising (1) a first region comprising (i) anindication of a media playback system identifier corresponding to themedia playback system and (ii) respective indications of each zone thatis playing audio content in the media playback system, and wherein eachzone includes at least one playback device and (2) a second regioncomprising respective indications of a first set of streaming mediaservices that are accessible for streaming audio to the zones of themedia playback system while the first user account is selected; causingthe graphical user interface to display a user account controlselectable to select among multiple user accounts in the controlapplication; receiving, via the user account control, input datarepresenting a selection of a second user account; switching the controlapplication from selection of the first user account to selection of thesecond user account; after switching the control application fromselection of the first user account to selection of the second useraccount, causing modification of the graphical user interface todisplay, in the second region in place of the respective indications ofthe first set of streaming media services, respective indications of asecond set of streaming media services that are accessible for streamingaudio to the zones of the media playback system while the second useraccount is selected, wherein the second set is different than the firstset; receiving, via the graphical user interface, input datarepresenting a selection of a playlist of audio tracks from at least oneparticular streaming media service in the second set of streaming mediaservices; and causing, via a network interface, at least one particularzone in the media playback system to play back the selected playlist ofaudio tracks, wherein, during playback, at least one given playbackdevice in the at least one particular zone streams data streamsrepresenting the audio tracks from one or more servers of the at leastone particular streaming audio service.